


crimson droplets so maddeningly sweet

by ohvictor



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: :-), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood Drinking, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:07:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26868661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohvictor/pseuds/ohvictor
Summary: Itaru finds Chikage in a rough way at work and takes matters into his own hands.
Relationships: Chigasaki Itaru & Utsuki Chikage, Chigasaki Itaru/Utsuki Chikage
Comments: 5
Kudos: 112





	crimson droplets so maddeningly sweet

**Author's Note:**

> long-time captain fans will absolutely have seen this coming. new captain fans... welcome to my vampire house (???)
> 
> obviously inspired by the [jp a3 halloween 2020 cards](https://twitter.com/mankai_company/status/1311954075408236544) where chikage is a vampire. in this fic, there's really no context or background given, but i was imagining something like canon a3 universe except chikage is suddenly turned into a vampire in october. can be read as shippy or no, since chikaita are just like... weird. 
> 
> if you recognize the title... no you don't

It’s already been a long morning when Itaru steps into the smoke break room to check his LP and finds Chikage there, looking like he’s about to die.

“Hi,” Itaru says, trying to ignore the way his heart jumps into his throat, and also the fact that senpai can definitely hear his pulse kicking into high gear. 

In a rare kindness to Itaru’s pride, Chikage barely spares him a look. He doesn’t look like he can spare much in general; his eyes are even more sunken than they were last night, his skin pale and waxy, and his hand shakes as he reaches up to adjust his glasses. When he lifts his head to look at Itaru, it’s clear that it’s with an effort.

“Chigasaki,” he murmurs. “How’s work today?”

“Great,” Itaru says, which is _not_ true, but there are more pressing matters at hand. “Hey, do you need anything? A snack, a...” A _victim_ , his mind supplies, and Itaru bites his tongue. “Anything I can get you...”

Chikage tilts his head back, pinning Itaru with his gaze. “Nothing you could get me.”

That probably isn’t true. The only thing senpai loves more than lying is risking his life for stupid reasons. And Itaru doesn’t like the way senpai’s face looks, like his skin is stretched too tight. “What _do_ you need, though,” Itaru presses, “for future reference.”

“What do you think a starving vampire needs,” Chikage deadpans. 

He has a point. But Itaru’s played a lot of games with vampires and there are a _lot_ of different lore systems out there, and Itaru’s still not sure which rules this universe seems to run by. “You tell me.”

“I’ll give you three guesses.”

Chikage doesn’t look like he’d last for three whole guesses. Itaru sighs. There’s a very obvious route here, and if he was playing a game, he’d be choosing the option to offer his neck to the vampire without hesitation. This is his real human body, though, not even VR, so there are certain...risks. Like the fact that he still has to work the rest of the day, because his gacha fund depends on it. And the fact that if he dies right now, he dies in real life.

But Chikage wouldn’t kill him, right?

“How much do you need?” Itaru asks, injecting as much confidence into his tone as possible. His shirt is buttoned up to the top thanks to some frustrating dysphoria when he was getting ready this morning, so in order to bare his neck he’ll have to undo a few buttons. He slides his phone back into his pocket and gets started before his hands can get too shaky.

“Chigasaki,” senpai says, and his voice is raspier than the last time he spoke. 

“That’s me.”

“I don’t think you know what you’re doing.”

“Then give me better instructions.”

“I’m not going to give you instructions,” Chikage sighs. Itaru looks up to find him biting his lip, catches the glint of his fangs under the fluorescent light. “I need... I just need to pull myself together.”

“Well, I’ll give you a pick-me-up.” The first button pulls free under Itaru’s fingers. When Chikage doesn’t respond, Itaru undoes the next two buttons, and pulls the flap of his collar down, exposing a swath of his throat and shoulder. The sterile office air clings to his skin. “Don’t make me have exposed myself for nothing,” he says, looking up to meet Chikage’s fathomless gaze.

“Since when were you this type of character,” Chikage mutters.

“What?”

“Nothing.” 

With that, Chikage finally moves. He takes a step closer, considering Itaru, which increases the feeling that Itaru is some kind of prey animal pinned to the ground. “What have you eaten today? It’ll look suspicious if I leave you half-fainted.”

“Not to worry,” Itaru says, more cheerily than he feels. “If I feel faint afterwards I’ll just take the rest of the day off. I have grinding to do anyway.”

The barest puff of a laugh escapes Chikage’s pale lips, although his eyes don’t leave Itaru’s neck. “Ah, so it’s a win-win.”

“You know me, senpai, always strategizing.”

“Sure.” 

Chikage takes a step forward, and if he wasn’t pinning Itaru to the wall with his general menacing aura before, now he’s pinning him to the wall with his _body_ , hands on his shoulders and one leg braced against Itaru’s thigh, boxing him in with no hint of escape. Itaru’s brain nearly explodes with the effort of running several thoughts at once, a pot boiling to overflow. There’s no denying the appeal of this, even if Itaru wasn’t already the type who could recognize a vampire eroge trope when he saw it, but another, more pressing worry is rapidly demanding his attention. “Chikage-san. Is it going to hurt?”

“Only for a second,” Chikage murmurs.

“It kinda feels like you’re not taking my concern seriously.”

“Chigasaki.”

“What?”

In one swift motion, Chikage presses his mouth to the crook of Itaru’s neck and shoulder. Itaru can feel fingernails on his neck, tugging the stiff collar of his work shirt down to expose more skin. Itaru, embarrassingly, squeezes his eyes shut. 

He feels a pinprick of pain, followed by a surge of heat. Endorphins, probably, so strong it’s dizzying, filling him with warmth and contentment, erasing any desire to run. 

“That’s not playing fair,” Itaru tries to say, but his words come out breathy, and he shuts his mouth before he can embarrass himself further.

“Mm,” Chikage responds, though whether he’s addressing Itaru’s jumbled comment or the _thing he’s doing_ , it’s not clear. 

The thing he’s doing, is— Itaru can’t see from this angle, and he can barely feel anything, but what he does register is the grip Chikage has on his shoulders relaxing, as if Chikage’s no longer desperate for this. Weird senpai, leaving Itaru on a need-to-know basis and even then, leaving gaps of clearly pertinent information out— But it’s hard to remember to be aggravated now, when his body feels warm and pliant, silk in Chikage’s palms. 

With a soft groan, Chikage disengages. Itaru feels a wet swipe of his tongue over what must be the puncture wounds, and then Chikage steps back. He wipes one hand across his mouth, and one red-hot image flies through Itaru’s head: _Is my blood smeared on his lips?_ And Chikage’s lips are clean, but it doesn’t stop heat from pooling in Itaru’s gut at the thought.

“I should be fine for the rest of the day,” Chikage says. His voice is nearly back to normal, the hoarse scrape of moments before gone. His eyes are bright and pleased as he looks Itaru up and down. “Now I can get back to work. Really, you’ve done a great service to our company today. I’ll write you a recommendation.”

“I’m so glad,” Itaru mutters. There’s a headache pounding to life behind his eyes, and the thought of sitting at his desk tapping away at his computer for the rest of the day suddenly sounds ideal compared to continuing to stand upright. His fingers shake in earnest as he buttons his shirt back up, tugging his collar irritably into place. “Good to see you in better spirits, senpai.”

“I’ll return the favor,” Chikage says, his gaze suddenly intense.

Itaru shudders. “No thanks. I don’t need any weird vampire favors.”

“That’s a lie,” Chikage points out. 

It is a lie. A vampire owing him a favor sounds kind of cool. “Whatever. I’m going back to my desk.”

“What about your LP?”

Shit. Can vampires read minds or something? Itaru scrabbles in his back pocket for his phone, and quickly taps through the welcome screen in the game he’s currently ranking in. The smoke break room fades around him as he plays through a few courses, until he’s used enough LP that he can relax and stop worrying about wasting it for the next few hours. Now he can worry about other things instead, like the fact that he probably needs to eat or drink something, right now.

“Buy me something from the vending machine,” he says. It’s a joke, because senpai usually laughs at him... Unless?

“Sure,” Chikage agrees. Yeah, that’s what Itaru thought he’d say. Favors and all that. “You prefer the one on the fourth floor, right?”

“Yessssss.” Itaru slouches toward the door. “I want coffee and instant ramen. And maybe those chocolate almond things.”

Chikage wrinkles his nose. “Better hope the machine isn’t out of chopsticks again.”

“They refill them on Wednesdays.”

“Ah. What a relief.”

As Itaru holds the door open for Chikage, he catches a glimpse of a genuine smile on Chikage’s face, a little color on his pale cheeks. 

Somehow, the headache and the blood loss seem worth it. 

(And later, when he sees his reflection in the bathroom mirror and sees two tiny, already half-healed puncture marks in his neck, lurking just below where his collar sits, he can’t help but think he’d be willing to help out like this again.)

**Author's Note:**

> i like him


End file.
